Silent Trust
by Vycksta
Summary: Life was not going well for a downcast Manectric who had just been released by his trainer in a region he didn't know, until a chance explosion surprisingly made everything better...


**Title**: Silent Trust  
**Fandom**: Pokemon  
**Ship**: Thundercloudshipping (( Manectric x Zapdos ))  
**Rating**: A few swear words but apart from that it's all good.

**Authors Notes**: You can all blame Chara for this!

All those who know me know that I like Nineteenshipping, which is one of the biggest poly ships in the entire fandom... and that I want every pair you can make in that nineteensome named. Manectric x Zapdos is one of them and Chara suggested Thundercloudshipping as Manectric creates thunderclouds and Zapdos lives in them. Et voila, a plotbunny humped my leg.

I am well aware that this is a very random stroke cracktastic ship, but that's me and you should know me by now. I like supporting crack no matter if it's yuri, Pokemon x Pokemon... whatever! I wave the flag for the different, not so obvious ships with pride.

Flamers make me laugh like a banshee unless it's somewhat constructive, all reviews welcomed and loved, hope you enjoy reading, forgive the typos... the usual yadda.

Dedicated partly to Chara and partly to Bryony, who is rather shocked at how I can just "abuse the dictionary and the thesaurus without even trying". Fnar.

---

"I'm sorry buddy, but you really are not needed on my team anymore... so go and enjoy your freedom, a freedom without me."

These words were being relived over and over again in the mind, the imagination, the memories. Around and around they went like a seemingly endless rollercoaster with no intention of slowing down for anybody. They were the last words that were heard and each and every single one hit down like a ton of bricks, especially that last one, freedom. For this was no freedom, this was torture... a complete and utter torture for the creature who had the misfortune of hearing those spitefully spoken words before being released into the open lands, the Discharge Pokemon known commonly as Manectric.

It had all started off so well for the sunshine yellow and sky blue Pokemon with eyes as red as the deepest sunset. After separating from the family that consisted of the elemental creature's mother and seven brothers and sisters while as a wily and playful Electrike living on the edge of route 110 in the historic and rugged region known as Hoenn, the young Pokemon spent the next couple of months engaging in battles with fellow wild creatures and against those tamed and belonging to trainers. Eventually though the Electrike found itself being caught by a pre-teen male, who whooped with joy at learning that not only did it have the ability Static, which has a thirty percent chance of paralysing opponent Pokemon when hit, but that the Electrike was a male, who are rumoured to have a stronger attack power than females.

The next four months went by in a whirlwind for the male Electrike. His trainer took immense care of him and even referred to the young Lightning Pokemon as his favourite. The term "favourite" then became the term "ultimate" when upon reaching the twenty-sixth level of experience the Electrike became what he is now, a Manectric. Everything else that happened was a constant, content blur... the somewhat overconfident male trainer travelled across Hoenn's vast quantity and challenged all eight of the Gym Leaders scattered throughout the many cities, emerging victorious in each battle. The Manectric of course played the most part in his trainer's conquests which gave him an enormous sense of pride. However when losing to one of the four strong and valiant trainers that made up Hoenn's elite, the trainer vowed to bite back stronger than ever after visiting the region of promise, the colourful Kanto.

Five letters, one word... a word that now makes Manectric shiver with pure and horrific hate, for when Kanto is mentioned everything that happened makes his thoughts go into a crazed overdrive.

Things to begin with were relatively okay... the trainer wandered around, engaged in a series of battles that added more victories to his battle record and Manectric was still known as the "ultimate". Then the trainer started to learn more about the Pokemon that were commonly seen in Kanto and was awestruck at how powerful they were. The determination to be the best trainer that Hoenn would eventually see seemed to be the only thought in the arrogant pre-teen's mind and when nearby to the Pokemon Center that was situated on the tenth route of Kanto he released his "ultimate" Pokemon without hesitation, saying those words that now make his former companion retch.

"I'm sorry buddy, but you really are not needed on my team anymore... so go and enjoy your freedom, a freedom without me."

The rain was now falling down at an alarming rate as the lonely and confused Manectric looked around frantically to find some shelter that would keep him dry. His crimson eyes darted firstly to the left and then in the opposite direction where he managed to locate a rather tatty and scrawny bush, scarcely covered with leaves. Making a face at how awful it looked Manectric eventually decided that even though it would provide little of it, it would still give out some form of shelter and with a careful limp as so not to hurt the injury sustained on his left front leg the Discharge Pokemon hobbled over to the bush and carefully crawled under it.

By this time the rain had started to solidify and had changed form into what is usually known as hail and was descending at an even faster rate, bouncing off the rugged coat of Manectric without consideration for the pain he was already in... but his thoughts were elsewhere. He was gazing at the place where he was and wondered how long he had been lying there...

Five minutes after he had been released by his former trainer and now eternal hate, the creature whose coat was of two primary colours wandered into the extensive patch of grass that Kanto's route 10 had to offer, hoping that he wasn't seen by another human of any gender. He wondered around the grass cautiously, making furtive steps as so not to be located and for a while the mission was successful... until after what seemed to be a time span of fifteen minutes he heard a rather unwelcoming, screeching noise behind him. Manectric sharply turned around and unfortunately came face to face with a trio of easily angered Voltorb.

Fear immediately swept through the mind of Manectric and he turned back to where he was facing to make a speedy exit but the Voltorb trio were too clever and calculating for him. Combining all of their energies together they shone a brilliant white in unison before exploding, the full and powerful force of the Selfdestruct attack knocking Manectric for six, sending him scarping along the ground harshly before falling into the small stream of water on the outskirts of route 10. He tried to swim to safe land but the current proved to be too strong for him, pushing him forcefully downstream. The last thing he remembered was having his left front leg horribly squeezed by a pair of tentacles belonging to a cruel Tentacool before falling into a realm full of blackness and nothingness...

So there he was. Suffering from the loneliness of being away from his family and released by the arrogant bastard of a boy he thought would be his eternal friend, suffering from the pain he received from having the full force of a triple Selfdestruct send him flying and having his leg more or less crushed by a Tentacool... and suffering from the cold thanks to the combination of being swept downstream by the river and the hail that was still falling relentlessly... the Manectric who thought he had everything but now had absolutely nothing. At this point he didn't care whether he lived or died but he knew one thing. He vowed never to trust another creature again... whether it was human or Pokemon.

With that vow now being the main thought in his head and pushing out the last words that his former trainer uttered to him, Manectric slowly felt his eyes closing as he was starting to feel rather tried... until an explosion was heard and jolted him sharply awake again.

Scrambling out from under the bush with speed and ignoring the pain that his left front leg was suffering, the Discharge Pokemon looked behind him to make sure that it wasn't another Voltorb out to attack him. When it was confirmed that it wasn't he looked at the scene in front of him. He couldn't see any damage; the only thing that he could see was a thick billow of furious black smoke emerging from the right. This made him think... was there something beyond the wall of earth to his right hand side? There was only one way to find out... taking a deep breath, Manectric slowly limped along until he reached the edge of the wall and peered around.

Sure enough, something did lurk behind that earthy mound... that something was a building that stood around fifty feet tall, was littered with many windows and looked in a strange way, unwelcoming. The trail of smoke that was noticed before by Manectric seemed to be coming out of the building's left hand side and although the smoke wasn't as vicious as before it was there. Eyes of crimson didn't notice any abnormalities other than that and so with a sigh Manectric turned back towards the pathetic looking shrubbery to get some more shelter from the hail...

Until the maniacal sound of laughter echoed throughout the proximity.

Laughter... that belonged to humans.

Humans... that cannot be trusted.

Humans... the collective species that must be taken down and made to pay no matter what the cost.

He had no idea what to expect as he headed along carefully to where the smoke was originating from but Manectric knew one thing... that only the human species could laugh as viciously and as evil as what was heard and any human was not to be trusted anymore. He didn't care who the laugh belonged to... humans must be punished. That was all that was running through the mind of Manectric as he finally reached towards the building; the building that seemed to look like the long time abandoned Power Plant that resided in a sheltered part of the region Kanto.

Upon reaching the Power Plant the now rather hostile Manectric carefully looked at the surroundings to mentally note down. His eyes widened when he saw a pair of Voltorbs but he quickly let out a sigh of relief as both of them appeared to be knocked unconscious from the blast. The Voltorbs were not the only things scattered around the shattered and diminished room... machinery was in smithereens and arranged in such a fashion that it was clear to Manectric that whoever caused the explosion was clearly a lot of trouble. It was at that point that he noticed a shocking array of luminous yellow sparks and lights emitting from a room in the near distance... followed once again by that awful sound he had grown to hate with every fibre of his being.

Human laughter.

Taking careful steps to make sure that he wasn't noticed by anything, Manectric headed towards this light, for where the light was there was humans and as far as humans were concerned they were all as arrogant, as nasty and as downright spiteful as the bastard who once owned him.

"Well this was damn right easy... like taking Meowth shaped candy from a baby."

"Yeah Sid, this was a piece of piss. The boss will be very pleased with us indeed."

"For sure! This could mean a promotion for us... ah, the feeling of being able to boss around peons lower than us."

"I'm in complete agreement... I mean Sid, if this pathetic Pokemon we snagged here so easily is really the so-called "fearless" electric bird Zapdos then we are one fucking awesome duo!"

"Yeah! Hey Zapdos, why don't you hide in the thunderclouds that you are supposed to be living in? Oh wait... you can't! You're all tied up and with nowhere to go but to the boss!"

The laughter was now exceedingly loud as Manectric had successfully snuck up to the room that was emitting those strange yellow lights. He lowered his head and growled quietly to himself when he saw that his thoughts were right... that the laughter did belong to humans. Two humans actually and both of them male, like the moron who ditched him so carelessly. The Discharge Pokemon noticed that the two males were wearing identical clothes... dressed entirely in a midnight black from the caps on their heads to the gloves on their hands to the shoes on their feet, the only thing that stopped them from being dressed entirely monochrome was a large, distinctive red R placed in the center of the fronts of their sweaters. However it wasn't until these two sinister looking males stopped laughing and headed over towards a mass of tied, secure brown rope that Manectric noticed exactly who the sparks belonged to.

Yellow daggers of light flew around the room in force as the tied up creature that this light and electricity belonged to tried in vain to warn off the two humans who had captured it. This was proving to be useless as it has contained by the ropey confinements that were holding it with relative ease. Another shower of sparks but again it proved to be futile as the creature was laughed at once again.

Manectric watched all the scenes with an increasing anger. This creature looked to be in a lot of pain and distress and seemed to be tied up rather tightly too... which must have been caused by the humans. This angered Manectric all the more... all humans seemed to be worthless, pathetic losers who are only out to cause harm to all Pokemon all over the regions. He was used as a tool for battling and carelessly released when not needed anymore, this other Pokemon used to gain glory for the two who were heartlessly holding it captive. The anger by now had finally reached fiver pitch. Bugger not trusting Pokemon, it was clear that it was only humans who could be so nasty. All humans now to Manectric were the complete and utter scum of the earth and even though he was still fairly weak he had to try and stop them... stop them from taking a fellow Pokemon... the Pokemon that was referred to by one of the scum as "Zapdos".

"Say Sid, did you see a bright yellow light behind us?"

"Oh quit being so fucking paranoid! There are no Voltorbs around and this little baby doesn't seem to want to pla... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The male who seemed to have the moniker Sid couldn't finish his sentence as he was carried over to the other side of the room by a solid fury of yellow electricity, the wall stopping him from going further with a slightly sickening crunch. Reacting quickly so the other male couldn't get his bearings together, Manectric bounded over and landed in front of Zapdos, the titan of thunder. Sid slowly got up but his cries of pain were drowned out by the almighty, determined roar of Manectric, who was ignoring the pain barrier of his leg and now very much focused on getting rid of the two bastards in black. Sid's comrade looked at his friend and fellow colleague before looking at Manectric, who was shooting sparks everywhere while still trying to protect Zapdos.

"We have come too far to be stopped, least of all by a fucking mangy mutt!" Sid's friend hollered, grabbing a Pokeball from his belt and launching it into the air. "Hypno, teach this Pokedog some manners!"

Lights of snow white swirled around the Pokeball in an enchanting manner before opening to release the elemental creature inside, the Hypnosis Pokemon know as Hypno. The Pokemon itself emerged from the spherical confinement it was in in a very confident and selfish manner, swinging the pendulum it was holding like it had a very successful battle record and was bragging about it. At this point a trio of roars were heard; one from Hypno to show that it was ready for battle, the second from Manectric to show that he too would fight for a victory and the third was from Sid, who was now convinced that his left arm was broken from colliding with the wall.

"Hypno..." Sid's friend muttered darkly, heading over towards his friend to try and help him, "Cripple that bastard with a Thunder Wave."

The Hypnosis Pokemon nodded its reply to its trainers command and placed its hands together, forming a circle of solid yellow energy around them. Hypno waited a few moments to ensure that the Thunder Wave attack it was going to perform was going to be at its strongest but those few moments were all the time that Manectric needed as he leapt into the air to dodge the incoming Thunder Wave. Gathering some of his strength Manectric opened his mouth wide to release the energy within him, a thick and furious billow of fire that hit Hypno directly in the chest. Hypno hollered in pain and fell backwards while Manectric landed rather carefully back in front of Zapdos, who was now watching all of this with intent. Who the Hell was this Pokemon saving it and what was its purpose?

"Darren..." Sid muttered to his friend, gesturing behind him. Darren, who now had Sid draped over his shoulders, turned around to see what was happening and let out a rather loud "FUCK YOU" at the sight of seeing his Pokemon struggling to get up from the Flamethrower attack that Manectric directed toward it.

"Zapdos is ours you stupid piece of shit!" Darren shouted in fury, wishing that he could kick Manectric to little pieces but couldn't cause of having the weight of his friend and colleague against him. "Hypno, do not hold back! Get the fuck up and unleash as many Shadow Ball attacks as you can muster! Knock that Manectric out!"

"Hypno!" came the rallying response from Darren's loyal Pokemon as he finally got to his feet... but Manectric by then had started to gather up all of the strength he had left inside him. This Thunderbolt attack had to count otherwise he would be knocked out and the two males in black would get what they were after... and that was Zapdos.

Once again all Zapdos could do was watch from where it was as Manectric started to glow a furious yellow from gathering all of the electrical energy he could from inside him while Hypno had formed a giant sphere of swirling dark mass, the Shadow Ball attack. The next thing everyone in the room witnessed was an extremely vicious light mixed with a variety of shades of sunshine yellow and shadowy purple and then silence followed, like an eerie wind.

A few minutes seemed to have passed like an eternity before one half of the villainous duo of males, Darren, finally decided that opening his eyes would now be a safe thing to do. He narrowed them, a natural reflect from all the dust that was still circling around as a result of the joint attack that both Manectric and Hypno performed. By now Sid had also opened his eyes and surveyed the scene that was starting to come to form as the dust found places to settle. It wasn't long till the dust had finally all cleared and the aftermath of the joint assault could now be evaluated...

"OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!" both criminals cried in despairing unison.

Hypno, Darren's main Pokemon and the one who did have a very successful battle record, was slumped against the wall with eyes closed shut and a small variety of light purple bruises scattered around its body... as well as the eventual mental bruise it will get of having finally been defeated. Manectric, on the other hand, was very much awake and was still firing off weakened sparks of electricity at all angles. He may have also picked up a few bruises from that quick assault but he was not the Pokemon that had fainted as a result and was proving that point to both Sid and Darren, who were starting to worry at how Manectric was growling sharply and was looking directly at them... they didn't have anymore Pokemon to defend themselves with...

"That effing bastard of a Pokemon..." Darren spoke sharply, scooping Hypno up in a red beam of light that was being directed from the Pokeball that it originally came out of. "It's wrecked our plan just like that."

"I knew I should have brought Golbat..." Sid replied weakly, still very much in pain from the effect of being carried along by a thunderbolt into a solid brick wall. "Damn that Manectric, damn that Manectric to Hell!"

Darren snarled a little before staring into Manectric's crimson eyes as an attempt to fool the Discharge Pokemon into thinking that they were not scared of him one little bit. "You may have won this round you scum... but mark my words. We will be back for Zapdos and we will be back in force... and you will not be able to take on a whole group of us. We are Team Rocket and we always get what we want and that is one fucking promise we do keep."

With a heavy sigh escaping his lips as the thought of telling his boss that both him and his comrade failed to get the titan of thunder because of them being foiled by a single Pokemon danced a dizzy circle in his mind, Darren slowly ambled out of the room that they were all in, taking care not to hurt Sid any further. When they were finally out of sight Manectric stopped sending sparks of electricity flying everywhere and turned to face Zapdos properly for a first time... and it was a sight to behold.

The majority of the Electric Pokemon may have been bounded by a thick mass of light brown rope but Manectric could still easily spot the features of Zapdos. How instead of feathers the Pokemon was adorned with a solid coat of sharp yellow... a coat that still glimmered and shined even though the room both Pokemon were in was now very much a shambles. How underneath the wings were two smaller areas of solid black, a black that combined both deadliness and beautifulness like a rose of the same colour. How the eyes of the bird-like titan of thunder seemed to capture so many emotions, how the claws on the Pokemon's feet had a grace to them, how in general Zapdos looked very nearly stunning. No... Manectric shook his head at the train of thought he was letting go through his mind... bugger that. Zapdos is stunning, no question about it.

Ignoring this new feeling that he was starting to get in his mind, in his body and in his soul, Manectric carefully closed his jaws on some of the rope that was bounding Zapdos and started to pull, ignoring the fact that his left front leg was now in more pain than ever before. With a sharp snap the ropes that bounded Zapdos's beak shut came apart and Manectric set to work on getting rid of the ropes that held Zapdos's body close together, noting that the cries that the Electric Pokemon were emitting were like a beautiful siren going off. Oh what was this feeling going through him? It was driving Manectric crazy but in such a very good way.

A minute or so later and the ropes that were keeping Zapdos together finally broke under the jaw of Manectric and no sooner that the Discharge Pokemon dropped the few tatty bits of brown from his mouth and onto the dust covered floor that he found himself flying against the wall, his right leg getting horribly squashed against the rest of the weight in his body as Manectric found himself the victim to a full-fronted whack from Zapdos's steely wing.

Zapdos glared nonchalantly as Manectric slid slowly and painfully down from the wall to the floor, landing in an awkward heap as both of the front legs were now in highly considerable amounts of ache. The titan of thunder was not a very happy Pokemon indeed. In the space of a couple of hours the building that it quietly and contentedly resided in was half demolished, it was captured by a pair of sinister pieces of human work and bounded in ropes so tightly that it threatened to cut off its circulation... then to top it all off it was apparently rescued by a Pokemon that it had never seen before. Zapdos cried angrily at the thought of this... it hated being rescued, it didn't need anybody to help it back in the past and it certainly didn't need any help now. Yet at the same time...

The Electric Pokemon now started to form a feeling of concern as Manectric didn't seem to be moving from the awkward position that he landed in. Zapdos had to be fair; there was no way that it could have gotten itself out of the jam it was in a short while ago alone... and the one who rescued it certainly had a bit of a look to him. Like Zapdos, Manectric was also covered in a solid area of spiky yellow, this area being around the top joints of his hind legs... and Zapdos liked that. Zapdos also liked how this Pokemon selflessly saved him from the ones that captured it... and how his eyes were such a glorious crimson, like a blood red rose, deadly yet beautiful. A new feeling was now sweeping through the mind of Zapdos and it couldn't shake it out, not that it wanted to anyway. The bird-like Pokemon liked this feeling... a feeling that made it like this suave stranger that rescued it more than it should.

Inching slowly towards Manectric with the intention of waking him up from his unconscious state, Zapdos suddenly felt a massive surge of pain go through its wings and screeched in pain. This unintentionally woke Manectric up and the first thing that the Discharge Pokemon saw was of Zapdos falling to the ground with a nasty thud, reeling from the pain that was coming from its wings.

He really shouldn't have cared so much... especially after being whacked purposely by it... but Manectric had to help Zapdos again. He had to... this new feeling was going through him like a bullet train from one end of the world to the other with no intention of stopping.

Taking very cautious care as to not do any further damage to his pair of badly battered front legs, Manectric very slowly and surely got to his feet, wincing when he placed his right front paw in contact with the floor. He took another look at Zapdos, who was now screeching even louder from the pain that its wings were producing, the effects of having them bounded tightly for so long being the cause. Letting out a short sharp howl of pain with each step that he took towards Zapdos, Manectric was not going to give up. He had this feeling toward Zapdos that couldn't be shaken off... but what was this feeling?

Was it trust?

Was it compassion?

Was it something else entirely?

Zapdos was also thinking these questions as an attempt to block out the violent throbbing pain coming from its wings... but all coherent trains of thought were stopped as in an instant the titan of thunder felt something cool and comforting brush against its right wing. It turned to look... and saw that Manectric was carefully licking the area of ache, each time the tongue of the canine-like Pokemon brushed against the wing it brought a sense of relief and comfort to Zapdos. It sighed happily and Manectric picked up on that, increasing the strength of the licks to give Zapdos even more pleasure.

When he was satisfied that the pain had now gone from Zapdos's right wing, Manectric started to take very careful steps towards the other Pokemon's opposite limb with the intention of also doing the same... but it was halted as in one quick motion Zapdos scooped Manectric protectively under the wing he had just drained the ache from and started to preen the Discharge Pokemon carefully and considerately with its beak. He would have protested but he couldn't deny it... Manectric was rather enjoying this attention, a bit too much for usual liking. He let out a low, content growl and Zapdos crowed a happy response, continuing to preen its new found... what was Manectric, anyway?

That's how it was for next few hours. The two Pokemon who shared the electric element both took the time to carefully and comfortingly sort out each others wounds from the palaver that happened earlier in the Power Plant. They did try to communicate with each other but found that they couldn't understand each others language so stuck with using actions... although the action of Manectric sliding on a small patch of oil and skidding out of the room wasn't the intention, even if it did make Zapdos caw insanely.

Both Pokemon were enjoying being in each others company, but it was Manectric in particular who was really loving being around Zapdos all the more. This feeling that was plaguing him since first noticing Zapdos properly wasn't going away and to be honest, he didn't want it to. After what he had been going through this was like a little slice of Heaven and there was no way that he was going to let it... and Zapdos... slip away from him.

That didn't mean that Zapdos didn't enjoy being around Manectric... far from it. It too was liking the company and it too also had that feeling that was in Manectric's mind. Never had Zapdos come across this feeling after so many decades of being on its own, only ever having that chance encounter with its fellow titans, Articuno who controlled ice and Moltres who had the power of fire... and it was determined to keep this feeling. It was like it held some sort of... attraction... towards Manectric. Was Manectric feeling the same? If he did would he ever say it despite their language barrier? Would he show it somehow? Little did Zapdos know that Manectric was asking these very same questions in his head, but with the electric bird as the subject.

For the next three days the two Pokemon stuck to each other like they were glued together as they ventured... carefully on Manectric's part as his legs were still very much sore and painful... into a new room of the Power Plant, one that looked clearer and cleaner. The duo would check each others injuries every so often and at the end of each day the canine-like Manectric and the bird-like Zapdos would spend the night together, with Manectric sleeping contentedly under one of Zapdos's now fully healed wings. As typical as it sounds, the two were drawn to each other like opposite ends of a magnet... even though both of them still had those questions running through their minds. Little did the pair of them know that those questions would be eventually answered after the full course of what was to eventually come...

The morning sun shone brightly against the windows of the room both Manectric and Zapdos were staying in, although the dust that was thickly piled up on the frames made the sun look somewhat gloomy as a result. Not that it bothered the two Pokemon, who both dozily opened their eyes and stretched. Once moving himself from under Zapdos's wing Manectric very cautiously sat up... leaning back on his hind legs so his front ones wouldn't feel any pressure of being against the floor... and barked loudly in Zapdos's direction. This caused the Electric Pokemon to jolt up in shock and the Discharge Pokemon to let out a series of laugh-like roars, until he was playfully battered by a steely whack of Zapdos's tail. Manectric and Zapdos continued to prat around like a couple of toddlers high on the sugary sweets when their innocent playing was interrupted by a very loud explosion, the sound ripping through the entire vicinity of the Power Plant forcefully, sending all sizes of debris everywhere.

When the dust had settled and things seemed to be as steady as they could be in the Power Plant, including getting over that initial shock, both Manectric and Zapdos wondered what in the blazes it was until they heard a further series of sounds that flowed after the explosion.

"All right Zapdos, we are gunning for you this time and if that Manectric is there too we are ready to knock the bastard out!"

"Yeah... there's no hiding from us this time! Your little mangy mutt of a friend may have stopped two of us at the beginning of the week but can it stop us now?"

The next sound heard was maniacal laughter... and even though they couldn't see the faces behind the laughter, both Zapdos and Manectric recognised who the voices belonged to instantly. They definitely belonged to Sid and Darren, the Team Rocket goons... and by the sounds of it they had plenty of reinforcements to ensure that they would get what they wanted four days ago... Zapdos, for their boss.

Manectric went from shocked to horribly ferocious in a matter of seconds... Sid and Darren are humans, the kind that could never be trusted or seen in a good light again. He was ready to find them himself and frazzle them into a permanent submission but before he could amble himself out of the room he was blocked by one of Zapdos's large and sturdy wings. The Discharge Pokemon turned around in fury but Zapdos was adamant; if the two were going to get out of this mess then they would have to get out of the Power Plant unseen and find a newer, safer hiding place. Words were not spoken but Manectric eventually relented, knowing that Zapdos was thinking that careful plan. Carefully and quietly, the two Pokemon headed out of the room they were in and set out to find the great outdoors, the laughter and mutterings of the men in black starting to get ever closer to them.

Thanks to years of living alone expect for the occasional few Voltorbs, Zapdos knew the way to go to ensure that both it and Manectric got out of the Power Plant in one piece... but the fact that Manectric's legs were still badly bruised from that event four days ago was proving to be a setback; the sunshine yellow and sky blue canine could walk, but barely. Heart of the Electric Pokemon was pumping wildly as Zapdos not only had to keep Manectric from finding the humans and shocking them senseless, it also had to stop the two of them from being spotted by said humans. The voices were getting closer and louder and at one point there was a thought that all hope would be lost but thankfully the two Pokemon emerged from the Power Plant in one piece and still very much unnoticed. Now all they had to do was to find a way over that wall of earthy rubble and escape to a new place...

Alas, the two Pokemon were met with a sudden shock that went throughout their entire bodies.

Even though the two were of the electric element themselves the shock of being hit by their own power was overwhelming. Manectric and Zapdos both let out a cry of pain before slumping to the ground. It wasn't long until the two were surrounded by six men all dressed in that same monochrome black. Two of them stepped closer to the two electric Pokemon, one of them juggling a tazer with his left hand.

"Now you know how I felt when you did that to me!" Sid hollered angrily, flinging the tazer and hitting the still dazed Manectric right in the eye, causing the Discharge Pokemon to let out another roar of pain.

"Easy Sid, let's make this short and not-so-sweet... a second explosion in four days will be sure to send some Police pricks over here." Darren remarked matter-of-factly, gaining nods of agreement from the other four men.

"Yeah, you are right." was Sid's response, reaching for a Pokeball in his belt. "Men, leave his to me and Darren, it will not take long. Golbat, let's get our revenge!" he cried, launching one of the Pokeballs into the air.

"Hypno, round two!" Darren cried, also flinging a Pokeball effortlessly into the air.

The often seen white lights circled the two Pokeballs and Manectric knew that this meant one thing... that Golbat and Hypno would soon be emerging to help their villainous trainers get Zapdos. Blinking his swollen eye gently, Manectric turned to face Zapdos, who was still knocked out from the result of being tazered. There was only one thing left to do... and that was to defend Zapdos at whatever the cost. This Pokemon solely gave Manectric back some of the trust it had lost in all living creatures when he was released by his former trainer and even though he was sore to extremes, he would still put up a valiant fight. He got up quickly, ignoring the pain barrier and turned to face both Hypno and Golbat, who were now fully emerged from their confinements.

"Knock that fucking Manectric out, at whatever the cost." Sid and Darren spoke darkly to their two Pokemon, allowing them both free reign to get Manectric with whatever attacks they chose. Thankfully Manectric knew this and was ready, charging up some of the electricity within him to unleash a Thunderbolt attack that hit Golbat directly.

The next few minutes were a flurry of various elemental attacks going left, right and centre. Golbat, once recovered from being hit directly with a beam of lightning, unleashed a white light over Manectric, causing him to see everything in a blur... the result of the Confuse Ray attack. Hypno then formed a massive ball of shadowy energy and launched it directly at the canine-line Pokemon, the Shadow Ball connecting with Manectric's upper chest and sending him sliding across the sun kissed ground... however Manectric gathered up the fire within him and unleashed a Flamethrower attack which hit both of his enemies. Despite being outnumbered Manectric was putting up a very brave fight to defend Zapdos... but how long could he keep this up?

While the three Pokemon were in their fight Sid and Darren ordered their four lackeys to start to restrain Zapdos, but as soon as grubby hands connected with its body Zapdos woke up with a startling cry and whacked two of the guys down with its wings. Sid and Darren tried to lasso the Electric Pokemon but that too was foiled before Zapdos then turned around suddenly to send two other two lackeys flying across the ground. This was it... with nobody around it Zapdos could now take to the skies and soar as far away as it could, but it didn't. As the six men with a criminal streak started to walk slowly towards Zapdos, Manectric was finally knocked to the ground by one of Hypno's powerful Shadow Ball attacks. As Manectric roared with pain Zapdos cawed in despair and the six members of Team Rocket cackled in what appeared to be victory.

Sending Golbat and Hypno back into their Pokeballs to rest, Sid and Darren started to prepare the rope that would be used to restrain Zapdos for the second time in four days.

"Any last words, titan?" Sid cackled quietly.

Zapdos looked at the men advancing towards it and set out a series of loud, glass shattering caws in an attempt to get Manectric awake and to make him realize one thing. The Electric Pokemon battered away the advancing men a second time and cawed some more... yes, it could fly away, but not how a Zapdos usually travels... how long until Manectric realized that?

By now Manectric opened his eyes, letting out a low growl of pain from having been horribly beaten by a pair of vicious Pokemon. Ears pricked up at Zapdos's cawing as it again shooed away the men of Team Rocket and he could tell that his... what was it to him, anyway... was trying to say something, but what? Why couldn't Zapdos fly so easily away? He tried to think but his memory was going haywire, thoughts that consisted of snippets of conversation staying in his mind for only a second at a time in an incoherent fashion...

"I'm sorry buddy, but you really are not needed on my team anymore... so go and enjoy your freedom, a freedom without me."

"Stupid Elite Four bastard... we will show him, we will show them all. A trip to Kanto and we will be back stronger than ever and ready to knock out everyone. Nobody will stand in my way this time and I MEAN THAT!"

"You are mine."

"Did you know that when this Electrike evolves it will be a Manectric and according to my Pokedex will be able to create proper thunderclouds with lightning and everything?"

"I'm in complete agreement... I mean Sid, if this pathetic Pokemon we snagged here so easily is really the so-called "fearless" electric bird Zapdos then we are one fucking awesome duo!"

"Yeah! Hey Zapdos, why don't you hide in the thunderclouds that you are supposed to be living in? Oh wait... you can't! You're all tied up and with nowhere to go but to the boss!"

That was it!

"Hey Sid, do you see a bright yellow light behind us?"

"Don't be so stupid, that Manectric..." Darren trailed off, his action of turning around making Sid and the other four men follow suit. "Oh fuck..."

The sight that the six criminal minded men... and Zapdos, who was in a defensive stance... saw was of Manectric, standing on all fours despite being in tremendous pain from the beatings he had got over the course of ninety six hours. Sparks as yellow as the midday sun shot off in a multitude of directions as Manectric gathered every single bit of electrical power he could from his body to use. But unbeknown to the men, this time the electricity conjured by Manectric was not going to be used to shock them into unconsciousness... oh no. This was going to be used for a different purpose entirely.

Roaring with a confidence he once displayed whenever he battled for his former trainer, Manectric unleashed a gigantic thunderbolt straight up into the sky, colliding with the crisp white clouds forcefully. A second thunderbolt from the Discharge Pokemon did the same action, as did the third, fourth, fifth and sixth. All six men were rooted to the places they were standing in as Manectric let out another almighty roar before unleashing a seventh thunderbolt into the sky... the thunderbolt that finally made the canine Pokemon's plan work. The cloud that was receiving the thunderbolts was now finally starting to change colour from its pure white state into a dark and dreary grey as it stored the thunderbolts against its will. Eventually the cloud could take no more and when Manectric let an eighth thunderbolt go from his body and into the sky the cloud retaliated by throwing one back to the ground, causing the sextet of men to jump back in complete shock. Zapdos however wasn't as surprised as the men, for this was exactly what it was trying to say to Manectric. For the only way the Pokemon could truly escape... and the reason why it lived in that Power Plant on its own for so long... was for it to travel in a thundercloud, just like the one that Manectric has successfully created, for it couldn't create one itself.

Before the men could turn around Zapdos took to the air flawlessly. It flew over to Manectric, who was now suffering exhaustion from creating that thundercloud... and ushered him to climb onto its back. Manectric very carefully did so but by then both Sid and Darren had twigged to the joint plan of the Pokemon. They ran towards the two electrical creatures like demons possessed but it was too late... Manectric had carefully climbed onto Zapdos's back and the Electric Pokemon took to the sky to hide in the thunderbolt that the Discharge Pokemon had created. The last thing the two Pokemon had heard was of repeated cuss words being drowned out by Police sirens as the men of Team Rocket, lead by Sid and Darren, knew that their time was up while the time both Manectric and Zapdos had was now anything but up, the thundercloud hiding them both successfully as they edged further away from the Power Plant and nearer towards freedom.

After a few hours of travelling in the air in a contented silence Zapdos cawed happily at what it noticed; an area of lush green that appeared to be very much undisturbed by other Pokemon... and more importantly to Manectric, humans. Manectric get out a growl of agreement and after checking that there were definitely no humans in sight Zapdos descended slowly towards this area of lusciousness. Taking care that Manectric had got off its back safely and after taking a few moments to gets its breath back from carrying him for so long, Zapdos then set about carefully preening Manectric again as an attempt to mask the pain of the bruises littered on the body of the Discharge Pokemon. However Manectric was distracted and limped away from Zapdos's affections, causing the Electric Pokemon to caw its concern.

Manectric turned around and looked straight into Zapdos's eyes, crimson meeting midnight in perfect harmony before looking up into the sky directly at the thundercloud that both Pokemon had just been travelling in. Zapdos let out a very loud screech to show that it knew exactly what Manectric was thinking and that it wasn't happy with it one bit but this time it was Manectric who was adamant that he would get his way.

He knew that even though the bond they shared was something that they didn't want to break, Manectric also knew that if Zapdos actually lived in the thundercloud it would never be seen again by humans, the collective species that seemed to want Zapdos as a trophy, a prize... anything but what Manectric saw it as. Zapdos frowned in concern but it knew that Manectric was right... in the sky it could never be harmed and never be spotted by the peach coloured group known as humans, the collective species that only seemed to care for themselves and not for Pokemon, who they co-existed with. With a light-hearted sigh Zapdos wrapped Manectric under its wing for a few moments before taking off to the sky to its new home... the thundercloud. This was met with a nod of approval by Manectric, who then set about looking for an area of green that he could sleep in.

That was how it stayed.

The sunshine yellow and sky blue Pokemon that was collectively known as a species by the name Manectric remained in an area of nature-esque greens, finally happy that it would never have to see a human again and that this area was undisturbed except for a snake like body of water so he could live out the rest of his life in peaceful harmony. Meanwhile, the goldenrod yellow and midnight black Pokemon that was singlely known as a species by the name Zapdos remained in an area of dusk greys, finally happy that it was free from having to abide by the rules and as proof of that freedom of the rules, scattered out a variety of thunderbolts towards anyone who looked like a human and was heading towards the undisturbed area of nature... the sole reason in doing so was to protect Manectric.

It wasn't that the two Pokemon didn't see each other... far from it. On occasion Zapdos would descend from the sky to check up on Manectric, who was always more than happy to see the Electric Pokemon. The two would then take the time to enjoy the views, try understand each other languages better with lots of conversation and of course, preen each other. Manectric liked it that Zapdos enjoyed being licked and Zapdos itself got a kick from the fact that Manectric loved being carefully looked after. After a while Zapdos would then fly back up towards its thundercloud home while Manectric settled in for the night, ready to have dreams that didn't involve that precocious pre-teen brat he once knew as his trainer.

As for those feelings they both developed in the Power Plant?

After time both of them knew exactly what this mutual feeling was... a feeling that made their hearts skip a beat whenever they thought of each other. A feeling that made everything seem so rosy and cheerful even if the weather was anything but that. A feeling so strong and pure that both Manectric and Zapdos didn't want to lose in a hurry. A feeling that was known as love... yet this love was based on a very special thing indeed. This love was based on trust. A trust that was as strong as their mutual attraction, for if it wasn't for Zapdos then Manectric would have hated every living creature on the planet and if it wasn't for Manectric, Zapdos would be in captivity against its will.

They still couldn't understand each other properly, but it never really bothered Manectric and Zapdos. For they love they shared started on the silent trust they had in the Power Plant... and that suited them both just fine.


End file.
